JOSEPH.

L83

said, has ascertained that "the mummy cloth of a child was
formed of cotton and not of linen, as is the case with adult
mummies."

Whether the ancient Egyptians, however, had any know-
ledge of cotton or not, it is very certain that the cultivation of
flax and the use of linen among them was very general.
Herodotus informs us that they were so regardful of neatness
that they wore only linen, and that always newly washed:
the priesthood, also, he tells us, was confined to one particular
mode of dress ; they had one vest of fine linen.

Without undertaking to settle the disputed point to which
we have referred above, we pass to the more important parti-
cular that this arraying of Joseph in vestures of byssus, was
an additional act of investiture in his high office. At this day
in the East, a dress of honor accompanies promotion in the
royal service. In a tomb at Thebes, as we learn from Wilkin-
son, «an instanc'e occurs of the investiture of a chief to the
post of fan-bearer; in which the two attendants or inferior
priests are engaged in clothing him with the robes of his new
office. One puts on the necklace, the other arranges his
dress,—a fillet being already bound round his head," &c.:—
" the office of fan-bearer to the king was a highly honorable
post, which none but the royal princes, or the sons of the first
nobility, were permitted to hold."

Pharaoh put a gold chain about Joseph's neck.

This also was another part of the ceremonial of investiture.
On this subject the monuments afford the most satisfactory
explanations. As Hengstenberg writes : " In the tombs of
Beni Hassan, many slaves are represented, each of whom has
ln his hand something which belongs to the dress or orna-
ments of his master. The first carries one of the necklaces